Discover Your Super Soul

Why I Am Not God

Purushottam Nitai Das June 24, 2016

Published in India Opines

A well-known spiritual speaker thundered, “I am here to tell you a very astonishing secret which will change your life.” The audience waited with bated breath to known the life transforming secret. The speaker after a long pause roared, “You all are GOD. It is just that you have forgotten that you are GOD.” The revelation charmed the hearts of the listeners and they greeted him with thunderous applause.

5000 years ago at the battlefield of Kurukshetra, when Krishna told to Arjuna that I have spoken this imperishable science of yoga to sun god Vivasvan (Bhagavad Gita 4.1) then Arjuna questioned how could it be possible because the sun god is very senior to you by birth?(Bhagavad Gita 4.4). Krishna said, “Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot” (Bhagavad Gita 4.4).

We may wonder why?

It is because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Arjuna is just a living entity. Brahma – Samhita describes that Lord never forgets Himself and so is called acyuta (infallible) but the living entities like us are prone to forgetfulness.

So the logic given by some spiritual gurus that “We all are God and we have just forgotten that we are God” is not supported by the Vedic scriptures.

Vedic books very clearly delineates as who God is.

isvarah paramah Krishna – “Krishna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead” (Brahma-samhita 5.1);
Krishna tu bhagavan svayam – “Lord Sri Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead” (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.38).
“Devaki’s son [Krishna] is the Supreme Lord” [Narayana Upanisad (4)].
Even Krishna speaks about His supreme position: mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya – “O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me” (Bhagavad-Gita 7.7).
Arjuna too accepts that Krishna is the Supreme Lord: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa conﬁrm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me. (Bhagavad-Gita 10.12-13)

We desire to be the controller and the proprietor and so we feel elated when someone comes and tell us that we are God. Some spiritual charlatans share some secret mantras assuring us that by chanting these words we would become God. Some tell us that by performing yoga or certain type of meditations we will merge into God and become God.

Krishna did not chant any mantras or perform any yoga or meditation to become God. He was God before he decided to enter into the womb of Devaki and after coming out of the womb he was still God. And since the moment he appeared he performed many extraordinary miracles which a living entity cannot perform.

When little Krishna opened his mouth in front of mother Yashoda then she saw the entire universe in Krishna’s mouth. Is there any spiritual guru or his disciples who can show the entire universe in his or her mouth? The answer is: NO.

We need to understand that we are not God and we can never become God. God is always God.

Some false gurus decorate themselves with the ornaments of scriptural knowledge and renunciation and mislead their followers by making them believe that they too can become the Supreme Being. To buttress their point they even misinterpret the scriptures.

So, we need to be very cautious whenever we approach any spiritual teacher. Whatever he teaches we should always vet it with the Vedic books. If it matches with the Vedas then he can be accepted else rejected.

As Krishna says in Gita, “As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly” (Bhagavad Gita 4.11) which means we get what we desire in this world. If we desire cheaters we will get cheaters who will take us away from God. And if we desire genuine spiritual knowledge then we will be directed towards those who are dedicated devotees of the Lord selflessly serving the people by bringing them closer to God.

(pic source: http://hiswordinwood.com/)

Call For ‘Bharat Ki Barbadi’ At India’s JNU?

Purushottam Nitai Das February 23, 2016

Article published in India Opines

Like every Indian (or rather majority of the Indians), I was enraged when I heard the slogan in JNU: “Go India… Go back… Kashmir ki Azadi tak… Jung Rahegi… Jung Rahegi…Bharat Ki Barbadi Tak… Jung Rahegi… Jung Rahegi. And like every Indian (or majority of the Indians), I too thought that we all will unite against the handfuls of anti-nationals and soon they will be caught by the police, rusticated by the college and put behind bars. But I was totally shocked to find that these anti-nationals have their sympathisers too that to in India and not in Pakistan or in Taliban. The congress and the communists and the AAP came together in their support. And when the sedition charges were levelled against them and one of the members were arrested, the left liberal cried – Rising Intolerance. Freedom of expression is under threat in the regime of Hindu Modi. This strategy has been very successfully used by the left liberals since Modi came to power.

After 9/11 there has been no terror attack in USA but in India there is no end to terrorists attack or Maoists attack. Why? Because in USA there is no direct or indirect support to terrorists or anti – nationals but the same cannot be said in India. Remember, when 76 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans were killed by Maoists in Dantewada then there were celebrations in JNU. And when in 1962 China attacked India then one of the communist parties in India took the side of China.

The left liberals have mastered the art of shielding themselves against all the scrutiny. No one can dare to question them. And if anyone tries then they are immediately labelled as fascists or Hindu nationalists. The video clippings of JNU unequivocally prove that the students were not just raising anti-India slogans but they were in fact, threatening that they will not rest till India is destroyed. But according to left liberals the students have a right to espouse such ideas and no actions should be taken against them. In fact, soon a morphed video was widely circulated which claimed that ABVP members were shouting anti-India slogans. However, Delhi police Chief, BS Bassi, has categorically said that ABVP members were not involved in anti-India sloganeering, the video is fake. But when have the secular liberals cared for the facts, it is they who decide what is right and what is wrong. For e.g. for them Ishrat Jahan was an innocent girl. Although Intelligence Bureau (IB) of India gave the evidence that she is a terrorists, Lashkar e Taiba’s website accepted that she is their operative and David Coleman Headley too told the court that she was a member of the terror outfit. But still she is an innocent girl according to them. When the entire world accepted that the 26/11 attack on Mumbai was carried out by Pakistani terrorists then our secular brigade wrote a book – RSS ka shadayantra, 26/11″. The book claims that RSS had planned attack on Mumbai, and the book launch function was attended by our dear Digvijay Singh.

It is not just the terrorists and Maoists who are dangerous for the sovereignty of India but it is also their ideological mentors who propagate anti-India sentiments. And they need to be exposed and apprehended and should not be nurtured. It is widely known that in the garb of freedom of expression anti-India and also anti-Hindu activities are carried out in JNU but it never used to come in public domain because their powerful sympathisers in the media never allowed this to happen. But today thanks to the social media the common man does not have to depend only on mainstream media to know the truth. After the anti-India videos were circulated on social media, millions of patriotic Indians came to know about the nefarious activities which are being carried out by some JNU students. Sadly we also saw that the menace has also spread in Jadavpur University, Kolkata, where again anti – India slogans were raised by few anti-nationals. Today the mood of the nation is that strong action should be taken against the anti – nationals.

If Kamlesh Tiwari can be behind bars for using derogatory remark against Prophet Mohammed then why not those who are shouting anti-India slogans and calling for India’s “Barbadi” and disintegration be behind bars?

Insulting Hanuman & Goddess Kali not good for secular India

Purushottam Nitai Das February 21, 2016

With the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1976, the word “secular” was incorporated in the Preamble. The state will respect all the religions and every Indians will be treated equally irrespective of their religious beliefs.

However in due course of time a very alarming and disturbing trend begun wherein it became very common to denigrate the religious beliefs of Hindus and that too in the garb of secularism and freedom of expression. If the Hindus protested then immediately they were labelled as fascists and intolerant.

Now the practice of defaming Hindu religious icons have become so common that anyone can do it and get away with it very easily. In fact for those who aspire to be counted as “secular” and “liberals” it is mandatory for them to vilify Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Teesta Setalvad compared Hindu Gods with ISIS. She posted a photoshopped image of Goddess Kali with the face of an ISIS terrorist on twitter. The Hindu published a cartoon on JNU row insulting Hanuman and Lord Rama. The cartoon shows Hanuman setting ablaze JNU on the order of Narendra Modi. In the cartoon Hanuman is uncouth, have wicked smile and is carrying a weapon which generally demons use. Modi depicted as Lord Rama is happy to see Hanuman fulfilling his divisive agenda. This cartoon was shared by Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, on his twitter account. The purpose of such depiction is to show that the Hindu religious icons are terrorists and hooligans. There was no outcry, no condemnation by mainstream politicians and reputed journalist and columnists – the torchbearers and upholders of Indian secularism.

Compare this with Kamlesh Tiwari incident who made derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad. He was immediately arrested under NSA and put behind bars. But certain sections of Muslims were not satisfied with this and they demanded death penalty for him. Lakhs of Muslims protested in several parts of India. In West Bengal’s Malda district around 2.5 lakhs Muslims while protesting turned violent, they burned local police station, shops and houses belonging to Hindu community. India’s secularists looked the other way and some justified saying that Muslims have been hurt so the violence.

It’s not that the Hindus should also start using violence against the blasphemers but at least as per the laws those who insult Hindu religion and tradition should be dealt with. Hinduism is a peaceful religion, it teaches people to accommodate others faith too and this is why we see in India both Islam and Christianity have not just thrived but there adherents are free to practice their faith without any fear. But contrast this with the condition of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh; they have been virtually wiped out. Those Hindus who have fled Bangladesh recounts many horrific incidents which forced them to leave the country. However the tolerance of Hindus should not be taken for granted or else we may reach to a point where Hindus may retaliate which will destroy peace and harmony of this country.

Teesta Setalvad and her ilks and the leftist newspapers like The Hindu are known to abhor Hinduism and so nothing much better can be expected from them. But Arvind Kejriwal, being a responsible politician, should uphold the dignity of his chair and refrain from supporting those who insults Hinduism and tries to sow the seed of hatred.

India will flourish only when all Indians respect each other’s faith and belief and live together in harmony. India will not become more secular by insulting Hanuman and Goddess Kali but it will become a vibrant secular republic when Hindu religion is also treasured.

Pulsihed in India Opines

Shankaracharya’s false allegation against Iskcon

Purushottam Nitai Das February 18, 2016

Iskcon’s extraordinary success in spreading its wing in mere 50 years shows that there are people all over the world who still have great affinity for India’s Vedic culture and tradition. When Srila Prabhupada incorporated Iskcon then he refused to dilute the Vedic teachings to make it more acceptable to non-Indians. Not just the philosophy but even the attire and the food he introduced in the west were completely Vedic. Men were supposed to wear Dhoti-kurta and had to have sikha and tilak and women were required to don saree and wear tilak. And all devotees were supposed to take sanctified vegetarian food. Before Srila Prabhupada and after Srila Prabhupada many Indian spiritual leaders went to the western world but most of them refused to present the Vedic scripture “as it is” because they feared lack of following. But Srila Prabhupada had not gone to west to become a famous preacher.

He was not mesmerised seeing the material beauty of the western world. Although he praised the western men and women for their workmanship but reminded them unambiguously that material advancement will not bring ultimate satisfaction in their life. He told them that the purpose of human life is to know God and he begged them to chant the holy name of the Lord to revive their relationship with the Lord. In return he did not expect anything for himself. He did not identify people based on their nationality or gender or colour of the skin or caste or creed. He saw everyone as children of one God and he was clear who that God is. Krishna is the Supreme God, he declared, and he backed it with numerous references from the Vedic literature.

Today Iskcon has become one of the most prominent spiritual organizations of the world. It has more than 600 temples spread all over the world. And also there are numerous farm communities and vegetarian restaurants. Vedic literatures are being distributed in thousands every year in all the major languages of the world. Krishna Conscious devotees can be seen everywhere – in USA, in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in Australia. Many of them are materially very influentially and many of them are from humble background. Temples are not just located in important cities like New York, New Delhi, Mumbai, Moscow, London or Luxembourg but is also located in small towns and villages. Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra is celebrated in hundreds of cities of the world.

One would have expected that such phenomenal success would invite all round appreciation especially from fellow Indians. But there are some who are levelling false allegation against Iskcon. Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand recently alleged that Iskon temples are center of religious conversion and Iskcon temples in India are collecting money and sending to the west. But he failed to provide any proof regarding this.

Does Iskcon indulge in religious conversion?

Iskcon does not use any money to purchase people’s faith as is being done by some missionaries in poor countries. And Iskcon never uses violence and force people to follow their philosophy as is being done by ISIS. When Srila Prabhupada went to the west, he was penniless and had no permanent place to stay and no guarantee of daily food. To spread the message of Krishna Consciousness he shared with them the timeless teachings of Vedic literature and introduced the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. He did not promise his followers any material benefit, he just told them that re-establishing relationship with the Supreme Lord will make you eternally happy. And the same preaching strategy is still being employed by followers of Srila Prabhupada. Iskcon does not indulge in religious conversion but only believes in transformation of people’s heart. One can belong to any religion or any nationality and can still practice Krishna Consciousness. People do not have to convert to Hinduism to practice Krishna Consciousness.

Do Iskcon temples in India send money to the west?

Those who follow Iskcon closely will laugh at this allegation. Each Iskcon temples are required to raise their finances separately. However all Iskcon temples are also supposed to support the Iskcon project in Vrindavan and Mayapur. And few months back devotees from Mayapur were travelling all over the world to collect fund to build a magnificent temple of Lord Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Mayapur. So actually the funds are coming in India and not going from India.

There will always be ill informed people who will try to spread rumours but Krishna being the best judge and protector of devotees will make sure that Krishna Consciousness keeps on flourishing. During 1970s when Krishna Consciousness was rising in the west a Bollywood movie was made in which it was shown that devotees are taking drugs and chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra. But the reality was that each committed devotes are supposed to follow 4 regulative principles – no meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication and no illicit sex. But the attempt to defame Iskcon did not succeed and Krishna Consciousness movement has grown from strength to strength and with the mercy of Lord Chaitanya will continue to grow.

Let not tears torment us

Purushottam Nitai Das January 22, 2016

At the battlefield of Kurushetra, Arjuna put aside his weapons and with tears in his eyes looked at Krishna expecting compassion. But in return he got chastisement. Tears of sorrow did not impress Krishna but rather it displeased him. If a child refuses to appear in an exam then his mother won’t be sympathetic although her child may give several reasons for not giving the exam. Mother being the best well -wisher of her child knows how important exam is for her child’s career.

Krishna being the best friend of Arjuna expected him to exhibit exemplary qualities befitting a great personality. Tears of lamentation, moroseness and reluctance to do once ordained duty isn’t appreciated by Krishna. These are the qualities of people in mode of ignorance. And devotees are expected to come to mode of goodness which is characterised by enthusiasm, hard work, patience and perseverance. Off course devotees of the Lord do their duties keeping Lord in the centre so they rise above goodness.

The celebrated devotees of the Lord are not those who gave up their responsibilities whimsically but are those who were highly dedicated and devoted in their duties. Victory or defeat never bothered them; they were just driven with a service attitude to please the Lord. Jatayu fought ferociously but lost the battle with Ravana but won the heart of Lord Rama.

Arjuna’s tears were wiped by Krishna’s grace and he ultimately won the battle for Krishna. Yes in our life too challenges will come bringing tears in our eyes but we should not get torn apart by any unpleasant circumstances. If we take shelter of Gita’s wisdom words then we will find solution to our problems and get tremendous strength to do our duty with grit and enthusiasm. We too will then become competent enough to do something wonderful in this world to please Krishna.

Krishna’s service temporarily not available

Purushottam Nitai Das January 20, 2016

Imagine if a message suddenly flashes on the sky: “Due to a technical fault the supply of oxygen will remain unavailable for some time all over the world. Next update about the issue in another hour”. What would happen to us? There won’t be just utter chaos but soon the earth will become a graveyard. Not even vultures and jackals would be alive to feast on the dead bodies. But has it ever happened? Never. Can it happen in future? Sceptics and agnostics may say, “Yes”. But it has never happened in millions of years and so will never happen ever because Lord’s creation is flawless and his day to day management is perfect.

With a desire to become a creator like God and be worshipped as God we try to make faultless machines but our product always have certain limitations and need continuous improvement. Rockets sent by us in the space survive only for few years. But the planets created at the time of creation are still smartly dancing along the designated trajectory not losing its path even by an inch. Quite often man tries to belittle God. Titanic was created to prove that man can defy God. It was advertised as the unsinkable ship. “Even God cannot sink it”, the makers claimed. But their ego did not last long and the ship sank. Of course God did not have to personally come to sink the ship, the material nature is sufficient to crush the ego of man.

It’s true that we do possess certain remarkable qualities and so we can also do marvellous deeds. But our design, development and execution have limitations because our knowledge isn’t unlimited. Nature is supremely perfect because she works under the guidance of the Supreme Lord. She provides us all the necessities of life and the supply is never discontinued unless we mess with it. Before we started polluting the river, the river gave us abundant pure drinking water. Earth gave plentiful grains till the time we had not started injecting her with poisonous chemical fertilizers. Cows happily gave and still long to give nutritious milk but still we don’t hesitate to kill her. Rain came on time making sure that there is no flood or famine. Nature is our mother and a mother is the best well – wisher of her child. Nature punishes us not because she likes to do so but because she is forced to do so. To live happily we have to be in harmony with nature. We are the makers of our own destiny. If we choose the path given by God then we open the floodgates of happiness else we march towards disaster.

In fact in Gita 3.10 Krishna explains that if we all live as per the laws of nature as prescribed in Vedic books then we can live peacefully and happily in this world. We won’t be deprived of anything, everything will be provided to us. We just have to accept it, respect it and live in harmony with it.

Mikey becomes a monk

Purushottam Nitai Das January 16, 2016

Sitting on a bench in a park Mikey was pondering over his life. What went wrong in my life? This could happen to me, I had never thought. Life had overwhelmed him, bewildered him and deceived him so many times that he had not just lost hope but also interest in life. Today he had even lost his job. It was dusk and he did not know where he will spend his night.

“Hello! Would you like to have this book?” The call of a stranger who looked strange because of his strange attire broke his chain of thoughts. Before he could say anything, Mikey had book in his hand. Although he did not want anyone to disturb him but he just could not say no to the stranger. He started glossing over the book and soon started getting absorbed in it. He found it meaningful. “Who are you and what is this book about?” Mikey asked. “The book is Bhagavad Gita and I am a Hare Krishna monk”, the stranger replied. The book has answers to all your questions about life.

Can the book tell me why so much suffering in my life?

“The book will not just tell about your cause of suffering, it will not just give solution to your suffering but most importantly it will give you a formula so that you will never ever suffer in your life, neither in this life nor in any life”, said the monk. The monk said this with tons of enthusiasm. Mikey wasn’t just impressed by his words. But to him the monk looked like to be the happiest person he has ever met.

He wanted to speak more to him, he thought him to be his well-wisher, a dear friend who has been especially sent to him.

He wanted to know more about the mysteries of life, about himself, about the purpose of life and so on. The monk obliged and when Mikey told him that he did not have any place to stay tonight, the monk invited him to the temple.

And he was now happy to follow him. Mikey spent the rest of the night in the temple reading the book and contemplating on the message. Temple’s spiritual ambience comforted him; he felt natural attraction for Krishna. It looked like he has got all answers to his life’s questions.

If depressed Mikey would have not met a Hare Krishna devotee that night he would have taken any extreme step. But Krishna never leaves a soul alone, he always sends someone to him. Many a times people do not reciprocate and miss a great opportunity to get reunited with Krishna. Mikey did not miss the opportunity.

Today Mikey is a monk in a Hare Krishna temple in Hungary. He is shaven headed with a shikha, wears dhoti kurta and neck bead and chants the name of Krishna. And he loves to distribute books of Srila Prabhupada especially Bhagavad Gita. Who knows someone in some corner of the world is waiting for Mikey to come and deliver him.

Bullets bleed Books heal

Purushottam Nitai Das December 3, 2015

(pic: timesofindia)

ISKCON NEWS

Antoine Leiris not just lost his young wife in the recent Paris carnage but his 17 month old son also lost his mother. Addressing her killers he wrote an open letter, “I don’t know who you are and I don’t want to know, you are dead souls. If this God for whom you kill blindly made us in his image, every bullet in the body of my wife is a wound in his heart.” He further wrote, “So no, I will not give you the satisfaction of hating you. You want it, but to respond to hatred with anger would be to give in to the same ignorance that made you what you are.”

In this hate filled atmosphere when hordes of lumpen terrorists are gleefully killing people hearing the message of peace and tolerance especially from someone who has been a victim of the mayhem is although surprising but is so pleasing.

True, humanity cannot be led seize by the acts of barbaric people, their mission of spreading hate and violence cannot be countered by more hatred and more violence. But nevertheless they need to be nabbed and neutralized and all the government of the world are working in that direction.

But the world has now become an unsafe place for all. The thirsty bullets of the terrorists vying for blood of innocents have filled our life with fear. Today we can be killed anywhere – in restaurants, in theatre, in parks, in planes, in trains, on road, in offices and also in our homes.

The question which begs an answer is why so much violence in the world? Why one man rejoices killing another man? Will the situation improve or will further deteriorate?

Humans start behaving savagely when their animalistic propensity overshadows his human emotions. This happens when the feeling of compassion and love gets buried under the debris of hate and ignorance. Vedic literature addresses this gruesome reality comprehensively and presents a roadmap which if followed with due diligence can create a world which will not be blemished with blood and fear. Srimad Bhagavatam (SB) 12.2.1 says that in the age of Kaliyuga, the age in which we currently live, religion declines and so do mercy. And we see today that authentic religious principles as given in the bona fide religious literature are being sacrificed at the altar of secularism and modernity. This has resulted in the rise of killer brigade who cunningly use religion as a tool for selfish purposes. They choose vulnerable youths as recruits who could be easily brain washed and made to believe that killing people will please his God. There activities bring disrepute to God and his genuine followers.

This is a tough time for the devotees of the Lord because they have to simultaneously fight at two fronts. At one extreme are the atheists who want to deny the existence of God and at the other extreme are the terrorists & the hate brigade who claim to be the spokespersons of the God.

In such a hostile environment the torchbearers of religious principles should rise from their slumber to defeat the nefarious motives of the enemies of humanity. And the weapon to be used is the ‘wisdom words’ of sacred books such as Vedic literatures. As each ray of the sun easily swallows the darkness similarly each message contained in these books has the potential to ignite the mind and devour the ignorance.

History attests to this fact that whenever civilization passes through tough times the spiritually intelligent people take initiative to salvage the humanity. The representative of God always works for the welfare of mankind and continuously guides them towards righteousness. As Kaliyuga entered, vice began to overshadow virtue, alarmed at this outcome the sages assembled in Naimisaraṇya to discuss how to save people from the negative influence of this age. To achieve this they all decided that they should discuss elaborately about the transcendental message of the Supreme Lord, his different incarnations, his various pastimes and how the common man can get ultimate benefit by understanding his relationships with the benevolent Lord. Speaking and hearing about the Lord is the most potent medicine because the words laced with transcendental message purifies a human heart checking all his sinful tendencies and simultaneously inspiring him to lead a virtuous life.

Great personalities have revolutionized people’s life by instilling in their heart the love of God. For example Srila Prabhupada used to just chant the names of the Lord and speak the words of God from the sacred Vedas. He did not have money power or political power or muscle power but had pure spiritual power which was sufficient enough to change people’s heart and mind. And to the surprise of the whole world his students easily took to devotional life and gave up all bad habits including eating meat because they understood that as a human if we inflict injury on other children of God then the act would displease God.

Today when the brutal bullets of the miscreants are causing tremendous pain and anxiety to all, the soothing message of these sacred books can only heal the bleeding heart. These holy books spread love and bring lots of hope; it can change the world by changing people’s heart by transforming greed into generosity, anger into compassion and hate into love. So without any discrimination and delay we should share the words of God in each and every corner of the world. Srimad Bhagavatam confirms that once a man’s mind is enlivened by the knowledge of Personality of Godhead the knot in the heart is pierced and all misgivings are cut to pieces (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.20 & 1.2.21).

Krishna’s invitation needs an immediate attention

Purushottam Nitai Das September 5, 2015

How many of us remember our days in our mother’s womb? Although we spent 9 months there but we remember nothing. How many of us can recollect each and every moment of our life which we have spent till now? Of course we can remember in bits and pieces but not in entirety. In fact if we retrospect our life’s spent moments then it will pass in a flash. What does it convey? That the moment which is very precious to us now will lose its relevance in future and we will forget it. Not that we forget many incidents of this life but the Vedic books tells us that we have forgotten many lives which we have lived here in different forms and in different species. This is why when Arjuna, at the onset of the Mahabharata war, bemoans that his relatives will die then Krishna reminds him that as soul all living beings are eternal and so they will never die. When a soul loses its current bodily dress made of flesh then according to his karma he gets a new dress made of flesh. This repeated cycle of birth and death (soul getting new bodies) continues as long as we are in this world and here we have to work very hard for survival.

Krishna, the all good benevolent God does not like to see us in this precarious situation so he comes in this world with a solution which can eliminate all our sufferings for ever. One of the reasons for Krishna’s appearance is that he comes to annihilate the miscreants but most importantly he appears in this mortal world to disseminate the information about the secret of eternal happiness. He being the supreme controller, it is not very difficult for him to extricate the world from unworthy beings and he may accomplish it without descending in this world. But just like a caring father who can chat with his child who is in a hostel on skype where he can hear and see him but he still loves to go and meet his child and tries his best to make life comfortable for him, similarly Krishna comes in this world to meet us, his children, and invite us back to the spiritual world which is free from all sufferings – there is no death, no disease, no mental and physical suffering.

The ephemeral pleasure of this mortal world never satiates our heart. Moreover since our body deteriorates daily so our capacity to enjoy this world also diminishes day by day. This is why Krishna tells us not to be so obsessed with the worldly happiness and distress but to focus on permanent salvation. And for this, we can make the spiritual world our eternal home where happiness is everlasting. Krishna in Gita says that those who become part of his spiritual kingdom never come back to this material world, “Those who reach it never return to this material world” (Bhagavad Gita 15.6). This is the promise of Krishna, whom the Vedic books declare as the Supreme God – Krishna tu bhagavan svayam (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28)

So why let go this wonderful opportunity. We should in fact utilize each and every moment of our life to purify our existence so that we gain the eligibility to become part of Krishna’s abode. On Krishna’s auspicious appearance day we can make a vow to bring Krishna in our life. And the best way to do is to start chanting sincerely the Hare Krishna Mahamantra – Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. We should not waste our time waiting for the right opportunity to start practicing devotional life because in this world there won’t be any perfect moment, we will always find ourselves busy in something or deprived of something. For e.g. a teenager has lots of time, lots of energy but hardly any money. A youth has money, energy but no time. And an old person has time and money but no energy. We will never find a favourable time to do the right thing. A boatman does not always wait for the wind to blow in a particular direction; instead he channelizes the energy of the wind to reach his desired destination. Similarly we can use any opportunity to spiritualize our life. Krishna’s invitation to return to his kingdom needs our immediate attention. In fact if we have a strong desire to spend rest of our life with Krishna then he promises that he will give us the know-how by which we can attain him – To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me (Bhagavad Gita 10.10)

Delink life from ups and downs of sensitive index (Sensex)

Purushottam Nitai Das August 24, 2015

The recent bearish market has caused lots of heartburns, thousands of investors have lost huge sums of money in stock markets in just few hours and thousands are having sleepless nights because they do not know what may happen the next day. When the Sensex plunges, it dashes hopes of a promising tomorrow. Future, which few moments back appeared bright suddenly becomes unstable and dark.

Hope of better tomorrow drives people to deposit their money in schemes which claim to multiply our money manifold in short span of time but it also forewarns that our investment is “subject to market risk” and we should be ready even for the losses. But the financial advisors asks us to not look at the dark side, many success stories are put forth in front of us and we finally are convinced that we should not get bogged down with negative sentiments. Of course one of the most important reasons why we invest in stocks is because we cannot resist the temptation of multiplying our fortune quickly. And we finally take the plunge thus intertwining our life’s happy and sad moments with the Sensitive Index’s (Sensex) graph, which by nature sometime goes up and sometimes comes down.

Dharma (religiosity), artha (economic development), kama (sense gratification) and moksha (liberation) are the four goals of family life. So for a householder financial stability is a necessity. Head of the family has to make sure that his family members have all the basic necessities of life. So investing money for better return isn’t wrong. However if one gets possessed by the desire for quick exponential profit then one is entering into a danger zone. Just like a gambler who after tasting few successes continues playing till the day when lady luck stops smiling on him, similarly greedy investors continue taking risk till he becomes bankrupt and ruined. A person invested in stocks and soon his money multiplied by 25 times, his Rs 3 lakh became Rs 75 lakh. His family members requested him to soon encash all the profit but with a desire for more he continued investing but sadly the stock suddenly crashed wiping out his entire gain.

Gita advises us to shun greed because it is gateway to hell (Bhagavad Gita 16.21) and asks us to embrace simplicity, a godly quality. It is also verily said that Lord has provided sufficient for our need but not for our greed. We have heard the story of a person who got a goose who gave a golden egg daily. The person was initially happy to have one golden egg a day but soon greed overpowered him and to get all the golden eggs in one shot he cut open the stomach of the bird. He did not find any gold mine there, even the innocent bird died ruining his chance of having a golden egg daily.

So while planning for our financial goal we should keep greed and impatience aside, we should choose means which is just, legitimate and is not too risky. We should not unnecessarily put our life in anxiety by parking our money in volatile markets. Instead we can choose such stocks and schemes after consulting genuine advisors where though profit may not be exponential but has strong base and have good track records of performance spanning several years. There are also schemes, such as government schemes, with almost negligible risk where profit is moderate, we can choose those too. Also we should not be recklessly spending money but should try to simplify our life so that we can save more for the future. It is also better to give up the mindset of amassing too much. In fact money should not be only used for our own aggrandizement but it should also be used to serve the Lord and share it with others in the form of charity (Gita 18.5).

Most importantly, life is not about just making money because even if we succeed in accumulating lots of wealth, we will be leaving everything behind here when we embark on a new destination at the end of our life. This is why sages and seers have advised us to plan our life in a way so that not just our present is pleasurable but our future life is also secure and happy. We can accomplish such a life if we do all our work by keeping Krishna in the centre – In all activities just depend upon Me and work always under My protection. In such devotional service, be fully conscious of Me (Bhagavad Gita 18.57).

So let us not jeopardise our life by linking it to the ups and downs of the sensitive index (Sensex). For a better & bright tomorrow we should live life as per the guidelines given by Krishna in Gita.

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